Found 22 talks width keyword CMB

Abstract

Dr Roger Hoyland has been working at the IAC for the last 21 years on the Cosmic Microwave Background Experiments. He started out as a research assistant at Jodrell Bank, University of Manchester, near his home town. His expertise lies in sensitive microwave radiometer design. He has worked on various projects such as the Tenerife Experiments, The Planck Surveyor Mission and The QUIJOTE project.This talk is for the general public (even if mostly scientific) and aims to explain some of the misunderstandings and myths about microwave devices that we use in our everyday life. There are many YouTube videos about the effects of microwaves but which do you believe? Does your mobile phone really cause interference in an airplane? Can you really destroy your credit card by carrying it next to your mobile? Does the EMP bomb really exist? All this and more…………….With the help of several live experiments and some audience participation (be prepared!) you will find out the science behind the myths around mobiles, microwave ovens and other microwave devices.PS: Please bring along your mobile phone if you have one.

Abstract

The ``dark flow'' dipole is a statistically significant dipole found at the position of galaxy clusters in filtered maps of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropies. The dipole measured in WMAP 3, 5 and 7 yr data releases was roughly aligned with the all-sky CMB dipole and correlated with cluster X-ray luminosity. We analyzed the final WMAP 9 yr and the first Planck data releases using a catalog of 980 clusters outside the Kp0 mask to test our earlier findings. The dipoles measured on these new data sets are fully compatible with our earlier estimates, being similar in amplitude and direction to our previous results and in disagreement with the results of an earlier study by the Planck Collaboration. Further, in Planck data dipoles are independent of frequency, ruling out the Thermal Sunyaev-Zeldovich as the source of the effect. The signal is dominated by the most massive clusters, with a statistical significance better than 99%, slightly larger than in WMAP. Since both data sets differ in foreground contributions, instrumental noise and other systematics, the agreement between WMAP and Planck dipoles argues against them being due to systematic effects in either of the experiments.

Abstract

We have learned a great deal about the universe from measurements ofthe cosmic microwave background (CMB). Most of what we have learned so far has been based on the temperature anisotropy combined with measurements of the polarization at angular scales of roughly 10 degrees. We are entering a new era in which the polarization of the CMB will be measured to high accuracy especially at degree angular scales and smaller. With the polarization we can, for example, measure or limit the presence of gravitational radiation from the early universe and determine the sum of the neutrino masses. The polarization will also give us a new way to determine the cosmological parameters. We review recent results on the CMB polarization with anemphasis on those from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) project.

Abstract

On March 17 the team responsible for the BICEP2 experiment, a CMB telescope located in the South Pole, announced the discovery of the primordial B-mode signal in the CMB polarization. This discovery inmediatly had a well-deserved impact in the media world-wide. In fact, it is the first observational confirmation of a prediction from the inflationary model, which was proposed at the beginning of the 80s as a solution for some inconsistencies of the Big Bang model. In this talk I will put this discovery in the context of CMB research, with a historical perspective. I will emphasize the importance of this discovery for Cosmology, and for Fundamental Physics, and will finally comment the prospects for the future, in particular the role of experiments like Quijote that have to confirm this signal.

Abstract

Next generation of CMB experiments will require a large number of detectors (few tens of thousands) in order to tackle the challenging detection of primordial polarization B modes. Furthermore, high resolution experiments are needed for a detailed study of high redshift objects including clusters of galaxies, proto-clusters and dusty galaxies. Within this context Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KIDs) are a serious alternative to bolometers at millimetre wavelengths. Indeed, KIDs are naturally multiplexed and compact allowing us to construct arrays of thousands of detectors. Furthermore, KIDs present short time constants (below 1 ms) and have been demonstrated to be background limited on ground based observations. The NIKA camera, made of two matrices (200 KIDs each) operated at 140 and 240 GHz, has been installed successfully at the IRAM 30 m telescope in Pico Veleta, Granada. NIKA has provided the first ever scientific quality astrophysical observations with KIDs. In particular RXJ1347.5-1145, a massive intermediate redshift galaxy cluster at z = 0.4516 undergoing a merging event, has been successfully mapped at 12 arcsec resolution by NIKA. NIKA is a general purpose camera and it can be also used for other astrophysical objectives including for example observations of high redshift galaxies and proto-clusters, and detailed intensity and polarisation mapping of star-forming regions in the Galaxy. NIKA is a prototype of the NIKA2 camera that should be installed in 2015 at the IRAM 30 m telescope. NIKA2 should have 2 frequency bands at 150 and 250 GHz with about 5000 detectors in total and polarisation capabilities. NIKA2 will be well-suited for in-depth studies of the Intra Cluster Medium in intermediate to high redshift clusters and the follow-up of clusters and proto-clusters newly discovered by the Planck satellite. Finally, we discuss the possibility of including KIDs in the next generation of CMB satellites as for example PRISM.

Abstract

About half the baryons in the local Universe could be in the form of a Warm Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM). If a large fraction of the gas is ionized, it could produce significant temperature anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), generated by the thermal and also the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. We have developed a theoretical framework to describe the mildly non-linear regime of the WHIM that allows us to compute its contribution to CMB anisotropies. We discuss prospective ways of detecting the WHIM contribution using our formalism and discuss our results on PLANCK data and the constraints we set on the WHIM parameters.

Abstract

Twenty years ago, no one convincingly knew the age or the size of theUniverse to within a factor of two. Ten years ago, everyone agreed onthose same two numbers to within 10%. Today, we arguably have broughtthe errors down by another factor of two. But that has led to anxietyrather than euphoria, renewed interest rather than complacency. Theproblem is that there are now two independent, competing methodsgiving answers of comparable precision and accuracy:one is a model-based method using the cosmic microwave background(the CMB), the other is a geometric, parallax-based method using localmeasures of distances and expansion velocities. To within abouttwo-sigma the methods agree. To within about two-sigma the methodsdisagree. And basic physics (a fourth neutrino species, perhaps) hangsin the balance.

I will discuss how this "tension" arose and how it will soon berelieved. A tie-breaker has been identified and developed, and it isnow being worked on from the ground and from space.

Abstract

1) Overview on Planck and QUIJOTE. R. Rebolo 15 min. 2) The Galaxy as seen by Planck. R. Génova-Santos 15 min. 3) Planck Cosmological Results. J. A. Rubiño-Martín 20 min (times approximate). We will give an overview of two Cosmic Microwave Experiments with a significant involvement of the IAC. The ESA mission Planck has recently released its first set of Cosmological Results. QUIJOTE is a CMB polarization experiment which has recently started scientific operation at Teide Observatory. We will show the first results and the potential of QUIJOTE and we will provide an overview of the Planck mission and its impact on Galactic science and on Cosmology.

Abstract

Magnetic fields at galactic and larger scales is a challenging issue for astrophysics and cosmology. In this talk, I'll review the methods to detect magnetic fields at these scales as well as I'll revise the field structure of the Milky Way and its dynamical implications over the gas distribution. In the second part, I'll review the updated works about effects of primordial magnetic fields on large scale structure and I'll show you preliminary results on its imprint on cosmic microwave background.

Abstract

The European Space Agency's Planck satellite was launched on 14 May 2009, and has been surveying the sky stably and continuously since 13 August 2009. Its performance is well in line with expectations, and it will continue to gather scientific data until the end of its cryogenic lifetime. I will present the first scientific results of the mission, which appeared as a series of 26 papers at the beginning of this year 2011, covering a variety of astrophysical topics. In particular, I will focus on the results on galactic diffuse emissions, as well as the first results on galaxy clusters detected by means of the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect.